Blake to play Nieminen in Stockholm final

Defending champion James Blake did just enough to beat Swede Robin Soderling 7-5, 7-6 on Saturday to reach the Stockholm Open final.

In Sunday's final, the American world number eight will play Finnish fifth seed Jarkko Nieminen, who defeated giant server Joachim Johansson, another Swede, in an epic three-set battle.

"It's going to be tough. I've played Jarkko three times and every time it's been really close," said Blake, who has won all his meetings with the Finn, the latest one coming last month in the Bangkok quarter-finals where the American went on to win the tournament.

Blake, the second seed, broke Soderling in the second set tiebreak for a 3-2 lead with an exquisite backhand down the line and then held his serve to clinch the match 7-4.

"He made me come out with some of my best tennis to squeeze that match out," Blake said of his opponent, who was 5-3 up in the first set but failed to capitalise.

"I knew he had a big serve but I didn't realise his groundstrokes were that heavy," Blake added. "I thought he would be content to just rally a little bit but he was going for it from the start."

Blake, 26, is chasing his fifth title of the year. In 2005, he triumphed over Thai Paradorn Srichaphan [Images] in the Stockholm final.

Nieminen had to fight all the way against Johansson, a former top-10 player currently ranked 690 after a long lay-off with a shoulder injury.

The Finnish left-hander broke Johansson just once in the match to win 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.

That break came in the fourth game of the deciding set thanks to some stunning defensive play with Nieminen clinching two points in a row with forehand passing shots.

The 25-year-old Finn, who won his first title in Auckland this year, went on to hold serve to win the match and is now looking forward to Sunday's clash with Blake.

"He has been playing really well this week. After Roger Federer [Images] I think he's the one who has played the best on hardcourts this year," said Nieminen, who reached the final here in 2001.

"He's on a roll right now, but our previous three matches have been close. Hopefully I can win tomorrow."

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